The Trump administration has closed “The People’s House” to the people while it builds the president a $200 million Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom.
The administration canceled all White House tours scheduled for September and is not accepting requests for any future dates, as first reported in the Daily Beast’s must-read newsletter The Swamp.
It’s common for White House tours to be briefly paused—and sometimes canceled at the last minute—because of unexpected changes to the president’s schedule that require additional security, according to The Washington Post.
But barring a government shutdown or a terrorist attack, a hiatus lasting for months or even years is basically unheard of, the Post reported.
The White House normally opens tour dates 90 days in advance, and many visitors to Washington, D.C., plan their trips around a White House tour.
But after the administration announced in late July that it was racing to break ground on the ballroom in September, it sent an email to congressional tour coordinators—who book the tours on behalf of their constituents—that it was suspending tours indefinitely, according to the Post.
The president had complained for years that the White House needed a better venue for hosting large-scale events, and unsuccessfully petitioned Barack Obama to upgrade the space.
In February, he announced that he was taking matters into his own hands and building a $100 million White House addition using private donations and his own money if necessary.
After spending the first several months of Trump’s term bulldozing the White House Rose Garden lawn and gold-leafing the Oval Office, the administration shared renderings for a massive 90,000 square-foot ballroom in the East Wing, where the visitors’ entrance is located.
By comparison, the White House residence—which doesn’t include the East or West Wings—is 55,000 square feet. President George Washington rejected proposals for an opulent European-style palace in favor of a more modest home for a “people’s president.”
Project renderings show arched windows, chandeliers, and gold embellishments reminiscent of the ballroom at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The White House still hasn’t said who’s paying for the White House version—only that it will be finished before the end of Trump’s term.
In the meantime, the office of the first lady, which is also part of the East Wing, is also being relocated.
The last time the White House underwent such a major renovation was during the “Truman Reconstruction,” when the building’s interior was ripped out and replaced between 1948 and 1952.
Currently, the largest room at the White House, the East Room, seats 200 people. The new ballroom will hold 650.
The post White House Snubs American Tourists to Build Trump’s Dream Ballroom appeared first on The Daily Beast.
